Aussie’s brutal TripAdvisor review torn apart

Hannah Edensor

11 Aug2017

An incredible smackdown has occurred on TripAdvisor, and it relates to an Aussie tourist’s view of an Irish restaurant and its owner.

The Aussie forgot his jacket, which contained a pair of glasses, in the venue, and claimed the manager lacked integrity when he failed to immediately return his lost items after he called and asked the manager to do so. He agreed to foot the bill for the cost of postage, and that was that.

Until the tourist – Graham from Sydney – decided it had been long enough, and with no sign of his belongings, took to TripAdvisor to leave a scathing review, titled, “HONESTY NOT DELIVERED”.

But the manager of upmarket restaurant Eala Bhán, in the Irish town of Sligo, Anthony Gray, was having none of it, and slapped back at the review with his own retort.

Gray’s response included everything from listing his many other priorities that come ahead of posting Graham’s jacket (children, managing restaurants, etc.), to quoting a famous poet and calling his jacket a crime against fashion.

Read the original review from Graham, and Anthony Gray’s comeback, below:

Graham wrote:

“My wife and I were visiting Sligo from Australia & Restaurant Eala Bhan was recommended to us for evening Dining. Based on that recommendation, we decided to Dine there on the only evening we were staying in Sligo.

“The food was quite reasonable, however we were extremely disappointed to find that the operator lacked integrity. This comment is based on the fact that I accidentally left my Wind Breaker with Eye glasses in pocket.

“We only discovered this when we arrived at our next destination, so rang and spoke to the Restaurant Manager (Anthony Gray) who confirmed that the jacket was with them.

“Based on his agreement to forward the Jacket to me, I e-mailed details of my Credit Card to cover all costs to return the garment to me.

“When it did not arrive within a week or so, I re-emailed twice with no response. my wife and I have since returned to Australia, short of one Jacket and one pair of glasses.

“Bottom line is Food might be O.K. But integrity is seriously lacking.”

The manager, Anthony Gray, responded with:

“Dear Graham,

“I never usually respond to reviews but have made a exception in your case. We are delighted you enjoyed your meal at multi award winning restaurant here in Sligo serving the finest local sourced ingredients on the very edge of the beautiful Wild Atlantic Way!

“I apologise that you forgot your jacket and glasses while dining with us.

“I apologise that I had not immediately sent your belongings back to Australia. I should have done a Joe ninety on it and hot tailed it up to the local post office and made your jacket a priority but unfortunately these things don’t always happen the way you may have planed.

“I mean I’m only trying to run 2 restaurants in the middle of summer while my manager whom I’m delighted to say is 6 months pregnant but unfortunately is suffering God bless her wee soul and out of work resting which i insisted on!!!

“Having 3 children myself under the age of 10 running around the house like gladiators and tearing to pieces while not going to bed on time, rising like ninjas at dawn I am what you might say just a little tired and a tad busy.

“I should have pushed this way up my priority list but forgot and while all of this is going I’m very busy busting a gut here and in the UK promoting my beloved Sligo.

“Why do I do this? I love my town, I love it’s people, I love every tourist that graces this beautiful part of the world and provides me and my staff with a living.

“People make mistakes and forget things just like you did with your possessions. But to come on TripAdvisor and review me about my lack of postal skills honesty and integrity beggars belief considering I never laid my mince pies eyes on you !

“I mean you are butchering my name insofar as my forgetfulness yet it was your forgetfulness that has us here!!!! POT KETTLE BLACK ( Google it).

“Finally I just checked the weather forecast in your part of sunny Australia and I reckon you will be fairly safe insofar as your lack of windbreaker……jaysus it’s roasting in your spot boi!! You lucky duck!!!

“Your possessions are en route you will be glad to know!!! and as far as my honesty is concerned I’m not even going to charge your credit card for the post furthermore the next time you visit the beautiful Emerald Isle and my County I’ll bring you shopping locally for a new Wind breaker as far i see its a bit of a crime against fashion.

“Next time you feel like writing a review for a restaurant try to remember us for our qualities which we provide in the abundance of good locally sourced food wine, atmosphere at least that’s what we hear consistently from our customers.

“So eventually when it cools down in Australia and you put on your Wind breaker on think of your honesty Irish restauranteur who’s full of integrity but you never met and who knows you may even break into a smile and give your face a holiday until then keep her lit.

“WE MAKE OUT OF THE QUARREL WITH OTHERS,
RHETORIC, BUT OF THE QUARREL WITH OURSELVES
POETRY………….. W.B YEATS

SEE WHAT PEOPLE ARE SAYING

sting

…… always remember to hit back is human… to ignore, divine..

Cherie Wakefield

As an Irish/Aussie citizen who works in Australian Tourism I have to say ‘Good on ya boyo’ for this reply.
I am bored to tears of being threatened with bad Trip Advisor reviews by people who can often be rude, demanding, illogical guests who take up so much time that other guests/priorities/staff sometimes get neglected.
Yes, please review your experiences, Good or Bad. Have you ever noticed its
more common for people to write negative posts and never positive ones. I don’t take much heed of people with 1 negative review under their belt. Let me see the Good and the bad. However, the customer must remember that the managers/owners can respond with the truth/whole story. They can point out everything that was done to rectify a situation and make your stay a happy memorable one that they often omit in said review so as to make their experience resembling more of a stay in Bates Motel/Fawlty Towers. (Speaking from personal experience).
I can only speak for myself here, I don’t get out of bed each day to do a half assed job and be rude to strangers. I love making people laugh/happy. I strive to go above and beyond for each and every customer I encounter. I commit to leaving my personal issues at the door yet will get shouted at and lambasted, by angry and agro guests because, insert something that has no connection to myself: missed flight, lost luggage, jet lag, being broke, Act of God, Missed alarm, weather. Yes it sucks that these things have occurred but guess what? I didn’t do it.
Humans need to realise that manners are free and will get you a long way. Unnecessary rudeness on the other hand, not so far.
‘Hey Rude people! When was the last time you were upgraded/given a discount/freebie after being] rude to service providers? Exactly. Never!
I don’t know about those people but I’ll keep the perks of having manners. I’ll continue choosing to speak personally to the owner/manager/staff to Thank them and let them know I had a great time. I’ll also continue to speak in person to owners/managers/staff if I am unhappy with something. I won’t pretend threaten them with a bad review or claim everything is OK to their face and then let it fester so that when I get home I use Trip Advisor as a vessel to vent my frustration when it could have been sorted out in person. Less stress, more success!
There have been a few of these Trip Advisor replies lately from Ireland. I think,if & when necessary these kind of replies from owner/managers/staff need to continue so that maybe one day everyone would use their manners and the world would be a happier, less stressed, rushed place.